Easter craft project #2

The next Easter project has hatched....

Project: Little Felt Easter Egg Bags

These are very quick and easy felt bags which can hold several little chocolate eggs. You can obviously make them bigger or smaller depending upon your chocolate easter egg needs :-)) Materials used: felt, embroidery thread and ribbon.

1. Cut two pieces of felt. My pieces were about 10.5cm x 14.5cm. They were this size as I was able to cut four pieces from a small piece of felt (the size which is sold in craft stores).

2. Cut four slits into each piece of felt, approximately 3cm - 4cm from the top edge.

These become the slits for threading the ribbon in a later step.

3. Sew around three edges of the bag. You can use running stitch or blanket stitch.

4. Now thread a length of ribbon through the slits around the whole bag.

5. Bring the ends of the ribbon through to the outside of the bag.

6. Fill bag with chocolate Easter eggs.

7. Pull the ribbon tightly to close bag and wrap the ribbon round the bag to the opposite side.

8. Tie a bow with the ribbon.

That's all there is to it. These would be easy for the kids to make too.

Now the RAK which I mentioned a couple of posts ago. I had three ladies leave me links to their easter projects. They were:

Toolbox

I was talking with my good pal The Easter Bunny the other day about fun new ideas for putting candy in Easter baskets. He was looking for a cute container for jelly beans that the kids would love and could re-use long after Easter. I came up with a really cute design that’s super easy to make. He promised to put one in my Easter basket, and I’m going to make a bunch for my dining room table, to use as a centerpiece.

Start by downloading our free pattern template and cutting it out. Pin it to your half-sheet of felt and cut out the shape. Repeat so that you have two egg-shaped pieces of felt. Then use your scraps of coordinating felt to cut stripes, waves, and zigzags to decorate your egg with. Pin them in place. For best results, use the same patterns on both halves of the egg.

Now on each half of the egg, fold the top (squared-off) edge of the egg down and pin in place. This will form the pocket for your drawstring. Use the sewing machine to sew it in place, as close to the edge as you can.

Sew all your stripes, waves, and zigzags in place on each piece of the egg.

Take the two halves of the egg and put them together, with the decorations on the outside, and use a few pins to hold them in place. Use the sewing machine to sew all around the sides (but not the top!) of the egg shape.

To finish off the edges, trim with pinking shears for a fun zigzag edge. If you don’t have pinking shears or prefer straight edges, you can use regular scissors.

Using the technique I’ve described for you before, put a small safety pin on the end of a piece of ribbon and feed it through the pocket around the top opening of the egg. When the ribbon is all the way through, remove the safety pin.

Now just fill the sachet with jelly beans, pull the ribbon, and tie it in a bow. You’re all set!

Tomorrow marks the return of spring: the Vernal Equinox. I can't remember a March when it actually felt like spring, but here we are with no snow on the ground and birds by the thousands filling the skies. This little basket is adding a sunny touch to my daughter's room... filled with a raffia nest and wooden eggs from her play kitchen. It's the perfect craft for this first weekend in spring... quick and easy to whip up with only basic sewing skills needed. It would also make a great basket for Easter or a sweet little party favor container. I kept mine very simple, but you can think of these as little canvases to embellish with your own style. A recipe for you to interpret your own way... Make them out of any kind of felt. I used cotton batting, because I have so many scraps leftover from my burlap buckets... and it performs exactly like felt! I'm also fond of white.

1. cut out rectangle
2. fold in half and sew up the sides with a 1/4 inch seam allowance... trim excess with pinking shears
3. make boxed corners by opening and folding in the opposite direction with the seam now falling right in the middle (see photo)
4.keeping seams even with one another on both sides, mark and sew a 3 1/2 inch seam over the corner... trim off excess triangle (from the corner)
you now have your basket... fold over top about an inch

5. Make handle: fold 11x2 piece of felt in half the long way. Sew up each side with a 1/4 seam allowance. Trim excess with pinking shears.
6. Cut out eight flower petals (I made hearts for simplicity) and two leaves
7. Sew handle to the outside of basket directly over side seam.
8. Tack four flower petals and leaf together with a few hand stitches. Attach flowers with buttons covering where the handle meets the basket.

Fill and enjoy!

There are so many ways you can personalize these... covered in felt flowers, applique, embroidery, buttons... I'd love to hear how you create yours! And if you're a maker who doesn't sew... I have a basket just for you coming up.